If your nonprofit feels stuck in a routine of fundraising events and campaigns that continuously yield the same results, you may be looking for a fresh way to reach new supporters. Peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising could be exactly what you need.
This type of fundraiser is a powerful tool that expands your reach (and increases your revenue) by turning existing supporters into ambassadors. These ambassadors tap into their networks, putting your nonprofit and mission in front of new audiences.
But recruiting the right participants and keeping them engaged takes more than sending an email and hoping for the best. It requires planning, effective tools, and consistent outreach.
This guide covers everything you need to know to recruit and motivate P2P participants, from identifying likely supporters to providing the tools and support they’ll need to raise money (and have fun doing it).
1. Establish Strong Support Systems
Don’t jump into a peer-to-peer campaign without taking a moment to pause and reflect on the tools, messaging, and processes your nonprofit has in place to support these champions. When you evaluate these tools and optimize them ahead of time, your fundraisers will feel confident and prepared right from the start.
Conducting a fundraising assessment will help in identifying the aspects of your fundraising efforts that are working and the ones that need improvement. This will help you evaluate:
- Donor data: Having data you can count on is critical. It helps you identify your most engaged supporters (the ones most likely to participate) and segment the groups for more personalized communications. Without good donor data, you’re just guessing.
- Fundraising technology: Technology that includes P2P-specific features will make it easy for your supporters to sign up, personalize individual fundraising pages, and share their campaigns! Make sure your tech stack supports mobile devices, social sharing, and real-time data tracking.
- Stewardship efforts: A P2P campaign needs regular check-ins, ongoing encouragement, and recognition for successes. Take a look at how you thank donors or celebrate milestones, and make sure those stewardship efforts are mapped to your P2P campaign.
After the assessment has been completed, compile a checklist of to-do items that can strengthen your approach. Ideally, the list would include the improvements you can reasonably make before launching the campaign. The goal is to ensure participants are excited to join and motivated to stay involved!
2. Identify The Right Fundraisers
Before sending an email to all your supporters to recruit ambassadors to participate in a P2P campaign, realize that not everyone will be a good fit. Just as nonprofits conduct prospect research to identify potential major donors, you can review donor data to determine which supporters are most likely to get involved in your P2P campaign.
Use your nonprofit CRM to evaluate donor data and segment supporters by level of engagement, giving history, event participation, and even website visits.
The right fundraisers will be:
- Committed: Not only are they committed to your mission, but they’re passionate about making a difference. They’re the doers who make outreach authentic.
- Connected: Whether they have an active social media presence, are heavily involved in the local community, or just have a wide personal network, those donors who can tap into broad social circles will be the most successful.
- Confident: They aren’t afraid to ask for support or confidently communicate with prospective donors. They know how to tell a compelling story and inspire action.
- Goal-oriented: They’re motivated by milestones and want to see results. Competition excites them, and they respond well to challenges.
Once you’ve identified candidates who share these qualities, you’ll also need to determine the best way to engage these supporters in the campaign. Consider which channels these supporters are most responsive to, and develop an outreach campaign that targets them on these channels.
For example, Double the Donation’s fundraising statistics reveal that 48% of donors are most engaged by regular email communications. Add information about your P2P campaign to your weekly email newsletter to generate interest in the fundraiser and provide clear instructions for how to get involved.
3. Equip Participants For Success
Once you’ve recruited some enthusiastic participants, your next job is to set them up for success with fundraising tools, guidance, and the resources they’ll need. After all, these best practices may come naturally to you as a professional fundraiser. But P2P participants are new to this, and they need your help to be successful.
- Sample messages: Provide ready-to-go email and social media templates they can personalize and share.
- Fundraising tips: Give them your best advice on making the ask, telling a compelling story, and reaching their goals.
- Branded graphics: Consistent branding is critical to making your nonprofit’s name easily recognizable. Supply logos, campaign images, and any content they can customize that’s true to your brand.
- Onboarding help: Host a webinar or offer a written guide that walks participants through what they can expect to happen and how they can use various tools. Reiterate the goals of the effort to keep participants mission-focused.
- Dashboards to show progress: Let participants access dashboards that show their progress and encourage a little friendly competition between leaderboards. Offering a small prize to the winning team can make the campaign more fun.
Make sure these resources are easily accessed long after the onboarding period ends. Put a campaign toolkit on your website or even use a shared folder. Have everything available if someone needs a refresher or has a question.
4. Recognize Participants and Retain Their Support
Saying “thank you” is important, but saying it with impact data proves to participants that their work had great significance. When the campaign is over, communicate the impact clearly. How much did the campaign raise? Where will those funds go? Did you reach or exceed your goal?
As CharityEngine’s donor retention guide explains, repeat donors are loyal ambassadors, within and independent from your formal P2P campaigns! This means that when your nonprofit successfully retains supporters, you’re more likely to secure long-term advocacy on behalf of your mission.
The key to keeping P2P participants involved beyond your campaign is inviting them. Remind these supporters that they can stay engaged without joining another time-consuming campaign. Encourage them to:
- Volunteer for an upcoming event
- Join an event planning or steering committee
- Commit to being a monthly donor at a nominal amount
- Offer to coach future P2P teams
- Share feedback in a survey
- Continue to raise awareness of your nonprofit and mission on social media
Don’t forget that the end of your P2P campaign is the beginning of your next fundraising cycle. With a data-driven approach, you can replicate the successes from this P2P campaign (and avoid any missteps) in your next one. Assess how you did, figure out what you can improve, and refine your strategy. Then, use that momentum to propel your next campaign.
No matter what type of campaign your nonprofit hosts, your loyal supporters are the reason you’re able to complete your mission-driven work. P2P fundraisers stand out as a way to drive fresh fundraising success for your nonprofit, but it’s up to your nonprofit to recruit and motivate P2P participants to make the most of this fundraising vehicle.
The right support systems, a thoughtful recruitment strategy, and a dedication to success can help you form a foundation that you’ll build upon over and over.
About the Author
Phil Schmitz is the founder and CEO of CharityEngine, a complete fundraising platform powering some of the nation’s largest nonprofits and associations. Phil has developed patent-pending anti-fraud tools and industry-leading recurring payment technology that allows nonprofits to retain more sustainer revenue than the industry average; clients have raised nearly $5 billion using these tools. Phil’s passion for leveraging technology to empower nonprofits is supported by more than 20 years of experience in building successful technology and e-commerce companies.